“Oh, how I wish I was an attorney,” Lynda said shuddering and fanning her face.
Taylor frowned. “Why? This job is not always glamorous; you’ve seen that first hand many times.”
“Not for the status but I’d give my left arm to be held up in a room with Mr. Infante for hours! Wow…I’ve said enough and will hold down the fort until you get back.”
Taylor smiled at the older woman’s giddiness. “I agree—you’ve said enough. See you later.”
*****
Mario waited by the doorway leading to the garage. Taylor entered the lobby to see him in conversation with a well-dressed, white woman with coiffed honey-blonde hair. When the woman touched his shoulder, she cringed with jealousy.
Taylor kept walking towards them with her head held high and a nagging envy knotting in her gut. “Hi, I’m ready to go when you are,” she said sensing she was acting childish by being jealous of this woman.
The woman was not as perfect up close as she was from afar. Heavy age lines edged her peach-painted lips, and sizable wrinkles creased beneath the makeup of the leathery skin of her forehead. It was obvious she’d either done the tanning booths too often, or was afraid of aging and tried to hide nature’s natural erosion with Botox injections.
Mario took the heavy file folder from her arm. “So am I. Pardon my manners. Taylor James, this is Allyson Barker. She was a colleague from my old firm.”
Taylor forced a smile and stuck out her hand, saying, “A pleasure to meet you, Allyson. I bet you all miss Mario.”
“We do. In fact, I was just suggesting to Mario, how we should get together for dinner and drinks. It’s been ages since I’ve seen him.”
Taylor lifted her eyebrow as Allyson took his hand. “Mario, I have a perfect date night for us. The annual Mayor’s ball is Saturday night. I saw your name on the guest list. How about it? Will you be my date?”
Removing Allyson’s hand, Mario stuttered with indecision. “Uh, uh, I’ll have to get back to you about that, Allyson. We’re on our way to a meeting and running behind as it is.”
She dug inside the classic Gucci purse retrieving a business card. “Here is my card; call me tonight with your answer. I would love to get together for a night of dancing, drinking, and reminiscing.” She turned to Taylor offering her hand again. “It was nice meeting you, Taylor.”
Taylor gave half a smile, replying, “Likewise, Allyson.”
As Allyson went on her way, Mario ushered Taylor through the double doors leading to the elevators to the parking garage. The doors opened; they stepped inside not saying anything. He broke the silence. “We never dated if that crossed your mind.”
Taylor kept her eyes straight ahead focusing on the muddy smudges covering the dingy metal of the elevator doors. “It is none of my business what you did with Grandma Moses.”
“That was harsh, coming from a sophisticated and intelligent woman.”
“Yes it was and I apologize. My motto is to mind my own business and not step in anyone else’s crap, from now on.”
“Did something happen to make you adopt a motto? And, could it have happened during breakfast yesterday?”
“I plead the fifth,” she said waiting for the elevator doors to open. When the doors opened the lights to a brand new Mercedes blinked on. She saw the keyless remote in Mario’s hand and asked. “You bought a new car?”
“Yes,” he snickered as he opened the rear door of the diamond-silver metallic CLS63 AMG S-Model Mercedes. Putting the file jacket on the floor of the car, he took off his suit jacket laying it across the backseat. He got behind the wheel waiting for Taylor to get inside the car. He rolled his eyes and got out of the car. “You’re kidding,” he said resting his elbow on the rim of the car door peering at her.
She blew air between her lips opening the door and getting into the car. “Would you have opened the door for Allyson?” She asked as they were both buckling their seatbelts.
“How should I answer and douse your flames of jealousy at the same time.”
“You are the cutthroat attorney—figure it out. But, I will give you a hint, I’m not jealous of an old ass woman refusing to be her age.”
“Tu podria haberme engańado, “he said knowing she wouldn’t understand. “This is the second time you have shown possessiveness when you have encountered me with other women. Taylor, you cannot have it both ways. Either you want to be with me or you don’t. If you don’t want me, I’m free to date whomever I want. If you do want me, then swallow your damn stubbornness and say so.”
“Golly-gee-whiz, batman, the same applies to you when it comes to Dillon.”
“What?” His expression shifted from wryly to curious. “How am I jealous of Dillon? I may not trust him, but I am definitely not jealous of him.”
“Oh, please,” she said shooting him a stark look. “Where should I begin?”
“By saying this discussion is ridiculous.” He maneuvered the powerful new machine through the parking garage to the exit gate.
Plaintively Taylor concurred. “It is ridiculous and we should drop the whole subject. Mario, I am sorry about the way I behaved. You’re a grown man and allowed to date whomever you want. You should accept Allyson’s invitation and escort her to the Mayor’s ball.”
“If I wanted to attend with her I would have accepted her offer. Taylor, what I want is to date you. But, for me to that, apparently I have to accept Dillon in the fold of my arms. I don’t want to turn over in bed to hug you and find Dillon sleeping between us.”
She stared at him. His face was so handsome and she had a hard time not giving in and granting him what he wanted. If she gave in, would it mean he would make other demands when he didn’t agree with her? And, if she did not give in, it would mean they could not have anything more than a professional relationship.
She didn’t know if she could handle working closely with him considering how she was fighting the urge to run her hands up his thick thighs and claim what lay beneath the expensive trousers. Could she actually live never having another night of passion with the man who’d captured her heart in such a short timespan? No was the real answer. Yes, would be the stubborn answer she would likely take.
“Well?” he asked breaking through her cone of isolation.
“What if we compromise on the issues?”
“What are your requirements?”
“I will back away from Dillon but not drop him totally as a friend. You will ease your distrust for him and not make him feel uncomfortable when around me.”
He vacillated. Taylor knew why he was doing it. At the exit gate, he swiped the keycard to raise the gate. Checking both ways before pulling into traffic, he headed east towards the highway.
Taylor eyed him. He shook his head. “All right, I’ll give in to your demands but I have a demand of my own.”
She skewered him a look. “What would that be?”
He raised his thick eyebrows. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“How am I looking at you?” She knew exactly how she was looking at him. The good-looking man in an expensive suit was growing devil’s ears and she liked them.
“Taylor, I didn’t get where I am by being a pushover. If you want something from me, then I want something from you….a conciliation of giving and taking.”
Taylor fingered the gold necklace around her neck. “We aren’t bargaining on who gets the waffle maker if we break a promise, Mario. Real emotions are involved here, and heartbreak will result from nonsense such as this. We’re adults, why can’t we just do what we do and leave everyone else on the outside?”
“Do I really need to spell it out? We are stubborn and possessive. I will have a problem with you running off to hold Dillon’s hand whenever he has a crisis, and you will grow fangs watching me interact with other women.”
“I admit I do have a ‘green-eye’ problem and it has been the cause of many of my failed relationships. But, give me credit; I’m getting better with handling it.”
�
��Not enough. We have to build trust, Taylor. What I am asking of you will be assurance that my trust in you won’t be a problem anymore.”
She sighed. “You won’t have to worry about me dropping everything for Dillon. I’m starting to think you may be right about him being possessive of me.”
“What happened after I left the restaurant yesterday?”
“The story is too long and we have more important stuff on our agenda at the moment.”
He nodded. “After the meeting, call your assistant and clear your day. We will go somewhere private and talk.”
“I can’t ditch work today—I have stacks of cases sitting on my desk.”
“Any of it life-threatening?”
“None of it is life-threatening but nonetheless requires my attention. Mario, I am an associate, so I do not have the same privileges as you. My ass has to be in my chair and ready to jump when called upon.”
“That I don’t understand. Why are you still an associate?”
“For the same reasons you will never handle a major case. I hate to break this to you, but we are the odd checkers on the table. Our talents will win the game, but we will never receive the victory for doing it. They will pluck your brilliant brain until there is nothing left but dangling branches of dried brain matter….”
“I get it; you can cease the colorful prose.”
“I was telling my neighbor last night my dream to open my own firm. I’m tired of working my ass off and not getting the recognition I deserve.”
“What is stopping you? You have the years and the knowledge.”
“Well for one, capital. Then finding the hours to do the research on how to open and run a successful law firm. And last finding a couple of brave attorneys willing to take the leap of faith with me.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m willing to invest in this operation if you make me a full partner.”
“There is a tragedy in the making,” she laughed. We can’t agree to date, how are we going to agree to operate a business?”
He placed his hand on her exposed thigh. Taylor chest tightened as his fingers kneaded her skin through her nylons. “Sweetheart, business is business but once we close shop for the day, pleasure will rule for the rest of the night.”
Intense heat filled her body. Taylor swallowed as her body responded to his creeping fingers. “Stop, Mario. I have to have full composure going into this meeting.”
He slanted his grin letting his fingers crawl under her skirt. “Am I flustering you?”
She pushed his hand away tugging the material of her skirt down. “Yes! Now keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the steering wheel.”
“We’ll continue this later, also. Now back to my proposal. What I want you to do is tell Dillon I will be joining you on the cruise. No more sneaking around, Taylor. He cannot realize I am on the cruise with you when the boat leaves the dock and I’m still onboard. He needs to know ahead of time.”
She had forgotten about Mario joining her on the cruise. When they had the argument in the restaurant, it had not dawned on her they would be together for seven days and sharing a room. “Actually I had forgotten about that. I will tell him this week. After what I witnessed over breakfast, it is best he knows the truth about us.”
I didn’t forget and I plan to enjoy my vacation without daggers being thrown in my back by Dillon.”
“You are exaggerating now. He has never been cross with you.”
“I see I will have to watch both our backs because you refuse to remove the blindfold from your eyes.”
Taylor turned her head to look out the window and did not comment. The Dillon situation was a discussion that would keep looping in circles and never end.
They arrived at the office building of Gallop Industries. Taylor fixed her makeup and got out of the car to wait for Mario. “Are you ready to go to battle?”
“Eh, this will be easier than taking candy from a baby,” he said buttoning his suit jacket.
“Your confidence is scary.”
He adjusted his sunglasses on his face. “When I set my mind to go after what I want, my ego is scarier. Watch the master and learn, Taylor.”
She had no retort for the man with the assertive strut. She made the right choice letting him take the lead.
*****
Taylor went directly to her office after returning to work later in the day. The settlement meeting with Tucker Plano went longer than expected but was successful. Mario secured the original million-dollar settlement without a fuss from Tucker. He simply threatened to let a jury decide the outcome of plaintiff’s fate.
Taylor turned on her computer. She had to finish drafting the settlement agreement before going home for the night. Dillon knocked on her open door. “Hey, you got a minute?”
“Um, I’m kind of busy, can it wait?” She asked not comfortable being alone with him.
“I promise this will only take a second,” he said entering her office uninvited.
“Okay, you have a second,” she said placing her elbows on the desk and steepled her hands waiting for him to say what was on his mind.
He closed the door to keep their conversation private. “I have to apologize for the way I behaved yesterday, Taylor. I’m just so frustrated with Kelly I’m losing my mind.”
“No apologize is necessary. But, you need to explain why you were snooping around my house last Saturday night.”
He recoiled. “I wasn’t snooping. I needed to talk to you, and when you didn’t come home, I got worried.”
“What was so important that it couldn’t wait until we met for breakfast?”
“You invited Kelly. I wouldn’t be able to talk about the fight Kelly and I had with her there.”
“Dillon, what was the fight about?”
“Her suspicions of another woman are feeding her mind again.”
Taylor cleared the paperwork from in front of her and propped her elbows on the desk. “Does Kelly think I am the other woman? If so, you have to set her straight we are not involved romantically.”
“I’ve told her I’m not messing around with another woman behind her back. Anyhow, she doesn’t believe me, and she believes the other woman is you and has always been you.”
“Do you blame her for thinking it is me? We were together all the time. But, now we aren’t spending time together and she shouldn’t think that about me anymore.”
“Taylor…”
“Dillon, this is beginning to get creepy. My neighbor is worried you are stalking me. I was scared to sleep in my own bed last night.”
“Taylor, I would never hurt you. Seriously, I only wanted to talk. Your neighbor with his killer dog would not let me explain anything.”
“You should have called me if you needed to talk that bad. I don’t want you to get hurt if someone catches you around my house when I’m not at home. We have a neighborhood watch and anything could have happened to you. Don’t do it again.”
He lowered his head. “I understand and it won’t happen again. Let’s grab dinner—it is quitting time after all.”
“Tonight is not good for me. I have a date tonight, and I want to complete this settlement agreement first,” she said hoping he would not ask with whom.
“Is it someone I know?”
Her heart skipped a beat. “Yes, you do know him,” she answered not looking at him.
“Are you going to keep me in suspense?”
“I’m searching for the right words.”
His brow narrowed as he stared at her. His voice, thickly coated with contempt, hissed. “It’s Mario Infante. You are always huddled together in an office or whispering in each other’s ear. He is the reason you want to turn your back on me. The man cannot stand I’m close to you! He will come between us, Taylor. I will not let that happen!”
Taylor cheeks flushed from the rush of heat. His eyes were ablaze and his tone was that of a father scolding a daughter for sneaking around with the forbidden bad boy. She remained seated and shot a s
tanch look of disdain in his direction. “First you need to drop that tone with me. I am a single woman and not obligated to reveal to you what I do or with whom. Second, Mario is the man I am seeing and there is nothing you will or can do about it.”
He sat quietly with his mouth open. “How long have you been dating?”
No longer caring her tone had turned sour, she uttered. “We have been going out since he began working at Cartwright & Associates months ago.”
“Oh, so you are not just dating, but exclusive. That means you’ve been fucking him behind my back!”
Taylor jumped up from her chair; the muscles in her face twitched from the anger ripping through her body. “Ho! Hey! You are not MY father and I don’t need your permission to fuck anyone as you so crudely put it!”
“Then why are you hiding him from me!”
“We didn’t say anything because we work together and don’t want every Tom, Dick, or Harry, in our business. But, Mario made a good point this morning. We want to be together, and should not have to pretend anymore. So I hope now that you know, you will be an adult about this and be happy for me and hold no animosity towards Mario.”
He snarled as her words tore through his soul. “Why should I be bitter with him? I have a fantastic woman I’m going to marry soon.” He got up from the chair taking his glasses off the desk. “I’m going home.”
She continued standing, aware of the remorse kicking her in the butt. “Dillon, I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you. We are family. I love you like a brother and want us to stay close and not have this come between us.”
He kept his back to her. If he turned around to face her, he could not be responsible for his actions. He kept a firm grip on the doorknob. “I apologize for my behavior also. You have the right to happiness. You’ve been through a number of failed relationships. If you believe that testosterone-filled bully is the one for you, then go for it. You know where my shoulder is when you have to cry from him breaking your heart.”
She blinked, nonplussed and placed a hand on her hip. “Excuse me? You have a lot of nerve. I have listened to you bitch about Kelly on more than one occasion. I’ve handed you tissues to wipe your snotty nose when you cried. But you say that about me? Go, Dillon. We should take a break from each other and focus on our own private lives for a change.”
OBSESSED WITH TAYLOR JAMES Page 12